11 months old, 8 months down and R&R is imminent!!!!!!!!

How is it possible that our baby is almost ONE?!?  Emmy is rapidly morphing from a little baby to a big girl!  Her crawls are fast and furious and she regularly finds herself stuck in tight places.  She prefers to stand over sit and is keenly aware of her surroundings from this new vertical vantage point.  She scales the furniture to intercept whatever "toy" catches her eye.  Emmy is becoming a more proficient wave-r and clap-per by the day, and a smile is almost always plastered on her little face.  She is her most happy when we are grocery shopping at Walmart (unlike myself).  She burns a whole through even the steeliest of Walmart shoppers with her giant 6-tooth grin and hearty squeals.  It doesn't take long until they have softened and are talking baby talk to her, which, of course, only encourages her further.  Kris officially declared Emmy's first words to be "Hi Dada!" which sounds like "Aye-Dada."  Mom and Kris also worked with her to say Mama, which, I am proud to say is also a staple in her vocabulary!  It is an absolute chore to change her diaper, let alone her outfit, because she refuses to be pinned down.  Singing songs will usually buy me a few seconds.  She has single-handedly fine-tuned my reflexes.  Interestingly, she will cuddle with me while we watch Daddy's stories and her Sesame Street music videos each  morning.  It's my favorite part of every day.

As for this past month, Nick has been chipping away at the pile of work on his desk and filling the pages in his flight log book.  Fortunately, they have come up with a workable solution to cover LTC Baldwin's job, which has freed Nick (somewhat) to resume his command responsibilities.  Nick has been crossing names off his list to ensure that he has flown with each and every one of his soldiers, and so far he has made a sizable dent.  Otherwise, he continues to trudge along in his "Groundhog's Day" routine, and welcomes any opportunity he gets in the gym and on the computer with us girls. :)

On the homefront, it seems like each week has been busier than the one before it.  We have had an FRG meeting, an FRG play group, two Eagle Remembrance Ceremonies, a viewing of the Memorial Service held down range and lunch reception for Lancer families and alumni Lancers, a Steering Committee meeting with the chain of command and an FRG field trip to the zoo within the past 30 days.  Our Team Lancer successfully completed the local half marathon and we welcomed 50 family members of two of our fallen with welcome bags and breakfast for the their Eagle Remembrance Ceremony.  Additionally, deployment blankets, t-shirts and memory bracelets have all gone on sale in time for Christmas.  The planning and preparations for the functions and fundraisers has been all-consuming.  I've logged numerous hours on the phone and computer with disgruntled, burned out and fearful spouses. (Also some women who prefer to call me over the local establishment they wish to visit for directions. I am a pseudo google maps, which perplexes me greatly considering how inept I am at geography.) Emmy and I needed to make a home call for one spouse experiencing a nervous breakdown and to provide meals for her family in the days following.  It was a very real reminder of the pain many women cope with while their husbands are deployed. Emmy and I have been blessed with an incredible church family and have had the great pleasure of meeting with our small group each Sunday night. We've made two trips to the vet; one for Molly and Darla's routine inoculations and one to learn that Darla cannot tolerate the standard vaccination schedule (finally an explanation for her hemorrhagic gastoenteritis bout last fall).  :( It's not all been work this past month, we've had opportunities to celebrate to: Greyson Slattery made his grand debut and I enjoyed a fab night out with the girls to celebrate Marin's dirty 30 and Sara's bachelorette-hood!  All of this, on top of keeping Emmy cared for and our home in order, has made the days go by very quickly.

Onto the best news of all...MY NICK IS LEAVING KANDAHAR IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS to make his way home to us!!! (As of Wednesday night!!)  We are over the moon!  Emmy has been practicing her "airport smile" for Dada in her bedroom mirror and I have been in OCD cleaning mode!  My hair is shorn, the cars are detailed, the dogs are bathed and the yard is mowed, edged, weeded and pruned! Tomorrow the house is getting sterilized and the fridge will be stocked! Counting down the minutes until we are in each other's arms!!  Hurry home safely, my love!!!!!!!!

Welcome bags for the Wagstaff and McClellan families

So excited for the show at the Nashville Zoo--it was exclusive to our Lancer families!

The best of 4 pictures--which doesn't say much. :-P 

First taste of grandma's pasta sauce recipe...

...she's a fan!

Emmy regularly rests her head on her tray and smiles at me while I am cooking, I'm so happy to have it documented. I love it when she does that. :)